CarGurus, Inc. (CARG) Business
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1 Business text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
Item 1. Business.
Who We Are
CarGurus is a multinational automotive platform helping consumers and dealers confidently buy and sell vehicles. Founded in 2006 with a mission to bring more trust and transparency to car shopping, CarGurus is the No. 1 visited automotive shopping site in the U.S.1 with the largest selection of inventory and network of dealers2. CarGurus’ selection, trusted automotive insights, and data-driven products and solutions support each shopper’s journey — from online research and shopping to in-dealership decisions — to empower them at every step. CarGurus provides dealers a personalized, predictive intelligence platform with software solutions that helps them run their businesses more efficiently and profitably at all stages of inventory acquisition and pricing, marketing, and conversion to sale.
We operate the following marketplaces:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| U.S., U.K., and Canada | U.S. | U.K. |
1 Similarweb: Traffic Insights (Cars.com, Autotrader.com, TrueCar.com, CARFAX.com Listings (defined as CARFAX.com Total Visits minus Vehicle History Reports)), Q4 2025, U.S.
2 Compared to Autotrader.com, Cars.com, TrueCar.com, and CARFAX.com (Joreca as of December 31, 2025)
Through our platform’s evolution, our ultimate goal remains the same: to empower our customers by giving them all the technology and information they need to buy or sell any car, anywhere, at the right price, and in the right way for them. At CarGurus, we give people the power to reach their destination.
Discontinued Operations and Reportable Segments
During the first three quarters of the year ended December 31, 2025, we managed our business and reported earnings through two reportable segments:
•
U.S. Marketplace: Derived revenue from marketplace services for our dealer customers within the U.S.
•
Digital Wholesale: Primarily derived revenue from our Dealer-to-Dealer and Instant Max Cash Offer services sold on our CarOffer platform.
On August 6, 2025, our Board of Directors determined, after considering all reasonably available options and a broader strategic reassessment, that it is in the best interests of our stockholders to wind down CarOffer, LLC, or CarOffer, including the CarOffer Dealer-to-Dealer and Instant Max Cash Offer products, or the CarOffer Transactions Business. Following the broader strategic reassessment, we concluded that the CarOffer Transactions Business has proven less effective in today’s more volatile and unpredictable pricing environment, where dealers require more flexibility and broader automation to streamline fulfillment than the model could provide. Following the wind-down, we will continue to deliver AI-powered inventory intelligence through our insights platform and enable consumer vehicle sourcing at scale through Sell My Car (formerly Sell My Car - Top Dealer Offers) and will focus on technology and analytics that will enable smarter sourcing and pricing decisions rather than facilitating the transactions themselves.
The wind-down of CarOffer was completed and the business was considered abandoned for accounting purposes as of December 31, 2025. We have presented the financial results of CarOffer as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements for all periods presented, except for the consolidated statements of comprehensive income, the
3
Table of Contents
consolidated statements of redeemable noncontrolling interest and stockholders’ equity, and the consolidated statements of cash flows. These statements have not been separately reclassified and discontinued operations are included within each for all periods presented. For further information, refer to Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025, in connection with the wind-down of CarOffer, our chief executive officer, who acts as the chief operating decision maker, or CODM, began to manage our business, make operating decisions, and evaluate operating performance based on consolidated results. Accordingly, the change led to revisions to the nature and substance of information regularly provided to and used by the CODM, and served to align our reported results with our ongoing growth strategy. As a result, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025 we report our financial results as a single reportable segment. For further segment reporting and geographic information, refer to Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Our Products and Services
The product offerings described below are available through our U.S. marketplace; availability on our other marketplaces varies.
Our powerful two-sided marketplace connects our large audience of car shoppers with our extensive network of dealers, anchoring our integrated suite of products (software and services). This dynamic platform supports consumers with trust, transparency, and selection throughout the car-buying process while supporting dealers with high-quality leads and connections, marketing reach, software solutions, and the data they need to make profitable decisions.
We derive our revenue from (i) dealer subscription fees, (ii) advertising from auto manufacturers and other brand advertisers, and (iii) partnerships with financing services companies.
Consumer Marketplace
We bring our market-leading trust and transparency to support consumers across the full car-buying process — from initial research to consideration and ultimately purchase. Our marketplace allows consumers to search with confidence for new and used car listings from our dealers with a conversational search experience or through filter-based search built on our proprietary deal ratings. It provides consumers with a seamless online-to-offline experience, offering the ability to complete the transaction in the way that works best for them.
Research
Our platform allows consumers to evaluate their options, assess pricing, and compare vehicles using consistent and transparent criteria. These criteria include expert reviews, side-by-side comparisons, user-generated content, and verified dealer ratings. Our goal is to empower consumers early in their car-buying journey with the information they need to make confident decisions.
Consideration
As consumers refine their preferences and evaluate specific vehicles, our platform leverages AI-powered conversational search alongside proprietary pricing and algorithms to help consumers assess value and trade-offs with confidence. Through data-driven rankings and rich listing detail, we surface the most relevant vehicles and provide transparent pricing context to enable consumers to move from exploration to informed selection.
•
CG Discover: To support shoppers as they refine their preferences and explore listings, we offer CG Discover, or Discover, a GenAI-powered shopping assistant built for agentic expansion. Discover interprets natural-language shopper intent, engages in an interactive dialogue to clarify needs and trade-offs, and dynamically surfaces relevant vehicles from across our marketplace. Discover complements the robust suite of proprietary algorithms our marketplace applies that help shoppers evaluate vehicle listings and provides them with pricing context, both capabilities core to the consideration stage of the consumer journey.
4
Table of Contents
•
Proprietary Algorithms:
o
Deal Rating: Eligible used car listings in our marketplace are assigned one of five Deal Ratings: Great Deal, Good Deal, Fair Deal, High Priced, or Overpriced. Deal Ratings are based on Instant Market Value, or IMV (our proprietary algorithm that assesses the market value of a used vehicle in a local market). We calculate IMV by analyzing tens of millions of data points, including make, model, trim, year, features, condition, history, geographic location, and mileage.
o
New Car Price Information: For new cars, we analyze data on suggested retail prices (manufacturers or total) and recent sales of similar new vehicles, accounting for trade-ins, incentives, and other factors that can affect the price of a new car, to provide users with comparative price information.
o
Search Results Page and Vehicle Detail Page: Our Search Results Page, or SRP, provides users with vehicle-specific details such as Deal Ratings as well as in-depth search filters, which we believe deliver the most comprehensive search capability among major U.S. online automotive marketplaces. We also provide our users with additional features to aid their search, including similar vehicle recommendations, side-by-side vehicle comparisons, expert reviews, and user rankings. Vehicle Detail Pages, or VDPs, include comprehensive information about the vehicle, including dealership information, dealer reviews and ratings, payment calculators, vehicle history, price history, and time on site as well as numerous photos.
Purchase
The purchase stage of the car-buying process, particularly the in-person phase at the dealership, can present uncertainty about pricing, limited visibility into alternatives, and pressure to make quick decisions. We aim to reduce friction at this stage by enhancing transparency and extending our platform’s support into the purchase and dealership experience.
•
Digital Deal allows consumers the option to start their vehicle purchase process online for eligible listings. This may include features such as trade-in estimation, payment calculation, financing pre-qualification through participating dealer partners, deposits, and appointments. These tools are designed to give consumers more flexibility and transparency as they move from research to purchase. We generate revenue from financing pre-qualification based on the number of funded loans from consumers who pre-qualify with our lending partners through our site. Digital Deal is described in more detail under “Dealer Products Conversion” below.
•
Dealership Mode provides consumers with on-the-lot support during visits to participating dealers through the CarGurus app. When a CarGurus user visits a participating dealer lot, the application is activated through geo-fencing and uses push notifications to provide vehicle identification number, or VIN, -level pricing and ratings, a financing calculator, the ability to compare cars on the lot with AI-generated summaries or find alternatives at the dealership, and reviews. For consumers, Dealership Mode increases transparency at the point of sale; for dealers, it supports engagement and return on investment, or ROI, attribution.
Dealer Products
To support our dealers, we offer a comprehensive suite of solutions organized around four key pillars: Inventory, Marketing, Conversion, and Data. These pillars reflect the full spectrum of dealership needs — from acquiring and merchandising vehicles to attracting consumers and converting sales — all in service of helping them operate more profitable businesses through predictive data.
Inventory
Our inventory products help dealers source and price vehicles more effectively.
•
Sell My Car allows consumers to sell their cars and dealers to make tailored trade-in offers on CarGurus consumer vehicles, generating valuable trade-in leads for their business. CarGurus dealers have control over their bidding and direct access to consumers actively looking to sell their vehicles. All leads are delivered directly to the dealer and include detailed consumer contact information and other insights to help the dealer close the deal. We generate revenue from Sell My Car primarily through recurring monthly subscription fees paid by dealers.
5
Table of Contents
•
IMV Scan enables dealers to scan a VIN using their smartphone to access IMV data. IMV Scan is available through the CarGurus mobile application for Enhanced, Featured+, or Featured Priority+ Listings subscribers (as described under “Listings” below).
•
PriceVantage is our first specialized software solution — an advanced pricing software powered by machine learning that leverages real-time consumer demand from our marketplace to guide smarter pricing decisions. The tool incorporates VIN-level activity, turn-time predictions, lead potential, market days’ supply, and visibility into comparable listings. When purchased, PriceVantage is available within the Dealer Dashboard (as discussed below under "Data"), integrates with Inventory Management Systems, or IMS, and is accessible via a Chrome-based browser extension that embeds insights directly into a dealer’s existing workflow. We generate revenue from PriceVantage through recurring subscription fees paid by dealers.
Inventory management is further supported by our Acquisition Insights, Next Best Deal Rating, and Max Margin Insights features described under “Data” below.
Marketing
We offer Listings subscription packages in tiered solutions, providing various combinations of visibility, leads, and tools:
We also continue to maintain legacy Featured and Featured Priority subscriptions, comparable to Featured+ and Featured Priority+, respectively, but without access to Digital Deal leads. Listings subscriptions are priced monthly, quarterly,
6
Table of Contents
semiannually, or annually based on a dealer’s inventory size and region and our assessment of the ROI we expect to deliver through our lead quantity and quality and our innovation. Dealers may be renewed at higher rates commensurate with growth and updated performance expectations. In addition, dealers using our free service (Restricted Listings) have access to capped anonymous leads and connections.
In addition to Listings subscriptions, dealers can purchase add-on products à la carte to further inventory exposure and lead access.
•
Highlight: Allows dealers to showcase inventory in featured slots that are not currently available to dealers in existing products providing dealers with more granular control over managing inventory and customizable strategies leading to increased visibility. We generate revenue from Highlight through a recurring subscription-based model, where dealers pay a fixed monthly fee for increased vehicle visibility slots.
•
Audience Targeting (formerly Real-time Performance Marketing): Allows dealers to leverage the engaged CarGurus audience to reach high-intent car shoppers on other websites and social media platforms across the internet. These targeted placements on third party sites help dealers build their brand presence and drive additional traffic directly to the dealer’s website. Advertisements can be targeted by the user’s geography, search history, CarGurus website activity, and a number of other factors. We generate revenue from Audience Targeting through a recurring monthly subscription fee while accounting for factors such as dealership characteristics and performance expectations.
•
New Car Exposure (formerly New Car Advantage): Allows dealers to showcase their new car inventory in a featured slot on the used car SRP, which is not currently available to dealers in existing products, giving them precise control to promote new inventory in relevant high-traffic used searches while also surfacing monthly payments to spotlight affordability. We generate revenue from New Car Exposure through a recurring subscription-based model, where dealers pay a fixed monthly fee for premium placement spots.
•
Geo Expansion: Allows dealers with an applicable Listings subscription to expand their VDP geographic footprint to non-local customers via dealer home delivery services. This program provides additional vehicle options to consumers open to home delivery services while promoting participating dealers’ delivery capabilities and increasing non-local VDP views. We generate revenue from Geo Expansion through a recurring subscription-based model that enable listings beyond the default geographical radius.
Marketing is also supported by our Merchandising Insights feature described under “Data” below.
Conversion
Our conversion products are designed to help dealers move shoppers from interest to purchase, including enhanced lead qualification and digital retailing features.
•
Digital Deal: Allows dealers to support online-to-offline transactions by enabling consumers to begin the purchase process directly from eligible listings. It is designed to increase lead quality and conversion by capturing purchase intent signals such as trade-in interest and financing preferences. We generate revenue from Digital Deal through dealer Listings subscription packages or as à la carte purchases.
•
Pre-Qualified Leads: Dealers that offer financing from our automotive lending partners can enroll to allow eligible consumers to pre-qualify for financing on cars as a part of their Listings. We believe this program provides more transparency to car shoppers about actual payments to be offered at the dealership specific to participating lenders and delivers highly qualified car shopper leads to participating dealers.
•
LeadAI: Scores and labels leads based on shopper behavior, helping dealers prioritize follow-up activity. LeadAI is included as a value-add feature to Enhanced, Featured+, and Featured Priority+ dealer subscriptions.
•
Performance Partners: Our strategic consulting program that supports national and high-value dealer accounts. Participating dealers receive dedicated engagement from our experts focused on maximizing platform ROI through hands-on guidance around pricing strategy, systems integration, lead management, and customer experience optimization. This program also facilitates best-practice adoption and data-informed decision-making across dealer operations. Performance Partners is offered to select dealer accounts, and,
7
Table of Contents
when offered, is included as part of a dealer’s Listings subscription.
Data
As our marketplace scales, it continues to generate a large volume of proprietary data and machine learning signals. We leverage this dataset, along with our artificial intelligence, or AI, capabilities, to develop predictive tools and insights that support dealer decision-making and performance. Our data offerings help dealers interpret performance metrics, optimize operations, and make data-driven decisions. Dealers with an applicable Listings subscription have access to the following Dealer Dashboard features that provide dealers with insights and information to facilitate efficient and effective management, pricing, and advertising of inventory.
•
Acquisition Insights: Automated email and dashboard tool that uses CarGurus data to help dealers identify the in-market inventory that is turning at their desired rate and they may be interested in acquiring.
•
Next Best Deal Rating: Insights tool that provides dealers with the blueprint for the smallest price reduction needed to achieve the next best deal rating on a particular vehicle’s listing. Dealers can specify price reduction thresholds on their specific inventory and receive an automated report to inform price changes that will optimize dealer volume and margin.
•
Maximize Margin: Report that shows available price increases on vehicles while retaining deal rating or dropping one deal rating (minimum Fair Deal).
•
Merchandising Insights: Sends alerts when a dealer is missing vehicle photos and details that can improve a listing’s performance.
Dealers are also able to manage user reviews, identify high-intent leads, and access key tools through the Dealer Dashboard, which is also available via our mobile application. The review management features allow dealers to monitor and respond to feedback, flag potentially fraudulent reviews, and share positive reviews to social platforms.
Auto Manufacturer and Other Advertiser Products
Our platform enables auto manufacturers and others to purchase targeted advertising and sponsored content on our sites and third-party platforms, including social media:
•
Brand Reinforcement: Manufacturers can advertise to consumers based on the make, model, and location of vehicles they are searching for, increasing exposure to interested shoppers.
•
Category Sponsorship: Sponsors can secure exclusive spots on high-traffic pages, such as the New Car front page, Used Car front page, or Research Center.
•
Automobile Segment Exclusivity: Manufacturers can target specific segments (e.g., SUV, sedan, hybrid, luxury) to support new or existing model launches.
•
Consumer Segment Exposure: Targeted advertising based on parameters like budget, vehicle preferences, and location can reach relevant audiences on CarGurus and third-party websites.
International
We also connect high-intent consumers with automotive dealers operating a leading automotive marketplace in Canada and the U.K., offering a transparent shopping experience similar to our U.S. marketplace. In the U.K., we provide one of the largest inventories of used vehicles and expert reviews, complemented by privately listed vehicles and expert review content on our PistonHeads website, as discussed below.
8
Table of Contents
PistonHeads
PistonHeads is a U.K. automotive marketplace, auction platform, and editorial content hub, all geared towards automotive enthusiasts. PistonHeads is accessible via mobile application and a website. The platform allows consumers to search across a broad range of dealer and private seller listings and stay informed about automotive news through editorial articles and expert reviews. Paying U.K. dealers who list on the CarGurus platform automatically have their inventory added to the PistonHeads site for greater consumer reach. PistonHeads also runs PistonHeads Auctions, a platform that allows individuals and dealers to list their vehicles for auction and shoppers to either bid at auction, make an offer before the auction starts, or commit to buy a vehicle at a set price before the auction starts.
Autolist
Autolist is a U.S. automotive marketplace accessible via mobile application and website. The platform includes inventory from top automotive dealers across the U.S. and gives consumers quick access to manage their search on the go with real-time alerts of newly available inventory and changes that occur on vehicles and saved searches they have configured. An independent editorial staff produces content to keep consumers informed on the latest vehicles and trends in the automotive market.
Mobile Applications
Consumer Mobile Application
Our consumer mobile application offers a seamless experience for buying and selling cars, anchored by AI-powered features like Discover and Dealership Mode. Users of the mobile application can browse with detailed filters, access price analysis to evaluate deal quality, and read dealer reviews to make informed decisions. The application also offers financing tools, including payment calculators, and allows consumers to save searches, set alerts for new listings, and receive instant offers through Sell My Car. The application supports personalized accounts, push notifications for updates, and secure authentication for smooth access.
Dealer Mobile Application
Our dealer mobile application enables dealership operations with a suite of tools designed for efficiency and effectiveness. Key features include an IMV scan for quick VIN scanning or manual input, inventory management for adding, updating, or removing vehicles, and lead management for tracking and responding to inquiries. The application provides pricing assistance to set competitive prices, dealer insights for performance and market analysis, and push notifications for timely updates. It supports localization with multi-language and country-specific settings, leverages native device features like the camera, and offers customizable application settings.
Technology and Product Development
We are a technology and data company focused on utilizing our background as a trusted marketplace for consumers and dealers to provide our customers with innovative and actionable data analysis. We have built an extensive repository of data on cars, prices, dealers, and the interactions between consumers and dealers that is the result of many years of data aggregation and regression modeling. We design our mobile and web products to create a transparent experience for both consumers and dealers. We believe in rapid development, release frequent updates, and have internal tools and automation that allow us to efficiently evolve our products. Our software is built using a combination of internally developed software, third-party software and services, and open-source software.
9
Table of Contents
Infrastructure
Our development servers and U.S. and Canadian websites are hosted through third-party cloud services in the U.S. Our European websites are hosted on third-party cloud computing services near each of London, England; Dublin, Ireland; and Frankfurt, Germany. We use third-party content distribution networks to cache and serve many portions of our sites at locations across the globe. We monitor and test at the application, host, network, and full-site levels to maintain availability and promote performance. We use third-party cloud computing services for many data processing jobs and backup/recovery services.
Marketing and Brand
Consumer Marketing
Through our consumer marketing program, we engage consumers at all points of the consumer journey to communicate our brand values and value propositions as well as to drive consumer leads and sales for our dealers and partners. We advertise through online and offline channels including linear, cable, and connected television, video, social media, display, search, content marketing, partnerships, sponsorships, influencers, audio, out-of-home, and affiliate relationships. We continually test into emerging and new channels with the goal of optimizing our customer acquisition cost and driving awareness of our brand. We use our owned channels, including email, text messages, and on-site and in-application messaging, to deepen our relationships with existing consumer customers. Leveraging our proprietary data and content, we also engage in press outreach to deliver our messages through organic media and articles. We largely drive our consumer marketing efforts internally but engage agency partners when appropriate. Outside of the U.S., we tailor marketing efforts to local markets.
Dealer Marketing
Our dealer marketing team is primarily focused on building marketing assets and events that best educate dealer customers and prospects about our products. We execute dealer campaigns through a number of channels including email, direct mail, and social media with the aim to both drive leads to our sales teams and to increase product adoption and usage with new and existing customers. We run a dealer award program, recognizing top performing dealers on various dimensions such as top rated and top value. In addition, we host events to deepen our understanding of dealer needs and relationships and provide content and thought leadership to support dealer success.
Our marketing team consistently uses research to support ongoing improvement and development of our customer experience.
Sales
Our sales team is responsible for driving dealer acquisition, subscription conversions, and product adoption across franchise and independent dealerships. Both inside and field sales teams support strategic dealership groups in major markets in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., with additional advertising sales staff based in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Account Managers work with paying dealers to enhance satisfaction and retention through tailored support, including product usage guidance, inventory merchandising, ROI tracking, and profit growth strategies. Active communication with dealers strengthens relationships and fosters success on our platform.
Competition
We face competition to attract consumers and paying dealers to our marketplaces and services and to attract advertisers to purchase our advertising products and services. Our competitors offer various marketplaces, products, and services that compete with us. Some of these competitors include:
10
Table of Contents
•
major U.S. online automotive marketplaces, such as AutoTrader.com, CARFAX.com, Cars.com, and TrueCar.com;
•
other U.S. automotive websites, such as Edmunds.com and KBB.com;
•
online automotive marketplaces and websites in our international markets;
•
online dealerships, such as Carvana.com;
•
sites operated by individual automobile dealers;
•
internet search engines, including aggregation sites and AI-generated search engines;
•
social media marketplaces;
•
peer-to-peer marketplaces, such as Craigslist.com; and
•
e-commerce sites, such as the partnership between Amazon.com, or Amazon, and select original equipment manufacturers to sell cars on Amazon.
Competition for Consumers and Dealers
We compete for consumer visits with other online automotive marketplaces, free listing services, general search engines, AI-generated search engines, online dealerships, and dealers’ websites. We compete for consumers primarily on the basis of the quality of the consumer experience and the breadth of offerings that we are able to provide. We believe we compare favorably on user experience due to the number of our vehicle listings, the transparency of the information we provide on cars, prices, and dealers, the intuitive nature of our user interface, and our mobile user experience, among other factors.
We compete for dealers’ marketing spend with offline customer acquisition channels, other online automotive marketplaces, dealers’ own customer acquisition efforts on search engines, social media marketplaces, and other internet sites, online dealerships, and vehicle auction companies that attract consumers searching for vehicles. We compete primarily based on the ROI that our marketplace offers as well as the synergies provided by the combination of our foundational listings business with digital retailing offerings and by leveraging our marketplace standing into insightful data analysis. We believe we compare favorably due to our large user audience, high user engagement, the volume and quality of connections we provide to well-informed consumers, and the high impact data insights we provide, which results in an attractive ROI for dealers.
Competition for Advertisers
We compete for a share of advertisers’ total marketing budgets against media sites, websites dedicated to helping consumers shop for cars, major internet portals, search engines, and social media sites, among others. We also compete for a share of advertisers’ overall marketing budgets with traditional media, such as television, radio, magazines, newspapers, automotive publications, billboards, and other offline advertising channels. We compete for advertising spend based on the marketing ROI that our marketplace provides. We believe we compare favorably due to our large user audience, high user engagement, and the effectiveness and relevance of our advertising products.
Seasonality
Across the retail automotive industry, consumer activity tends to be highest in the spring and summer months, aligning with tax refund season and increased discretionary spending, as well as the rollout of new vehicle models. This seasonality in vehicle purchasing behavior can influence dealer advertising budgets and inventory levels, which, in turn, could impact demand for our products and services.
Historically, our operating results have been more influenced by macroeconomic conditions that impact the volume of vehicle sales, such as slower growth or recession, higher interest rates, unemployment, inflation, consumer confidence in the economy, consumer debt levels, labor disruptions, work stoppages, or strikes, geopolitical conflicts, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, and other matters that influence consumer spending and preferences, than by consistent
11
Table of Contents
seasonal patterns.
To date, our operating results have not been materially impacted by the general seasonality of the automotive industry. However, as our platform and offerings continue to scale, including our growing suite of software and data products for consumers and dealers, we may become more susceptible to seasonal trends that affect vehicle transactions, consumer engagement, or dealer marketing behavior.
Accordingly, revenue and cost of revenue related to volume will fluctuate on a quarterly basis. Typical seasonality trends may not be observed in periods where other external factors, such as changes in international trade policies, tariffs, higher interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues, more significantly impact the industry.
People and Talent
Our investment in our greatest asset – our people – is integral to our core values, evidenced by our inclusion of employee development as components of our 2025 strategic and organizational initiatives. Our Board of Directors oversees our people and talent efforts and views building our culture – from employee development and retention to inclusion initiatives – as key to driving long-term value for our business and helping mitigate risks. As of December 31, 2025, we had 1,218 full-time employees, 82 of whom were based outside the U.S. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Culture, Values, and Standards
| OUR CORE VALUES | ||
|---|---|---|
| WE AREPIONEERING | WE ARETRANSPARENT | WE AREDATA-DRIVEN |
| WE MOVEQUICKLY | WE ARECOLLABORATIVE | WE HAVEINTEGRITY |
Our company culture is rooted in a data-driven, innovative approach to the automotive market, fostering thought leadership, collaboration, and continuous improvement to serve our consumers, dealers, and partners. We are an equal opportunity employer and strive to build and nurture a culture where inclusiveness is a reflex, not an initiative. We also have five universal leadership capabilities that differentiate us from the market as part of our continued commitment to give employees the power to own their career development and impact and guide how we work and drive impact. They include:
| CATALYST FOR IMPACT. We set high standards and take full ownership for our work. We are decisive, results-oriented, and have a bias for action. |
|---|
| COACH. We embody a growth mindset and foster an environment of learning, developing, and growing together. |
| COMMUNICATOR. We share our vision and bring people along. We communicate clearly and simply, using data and facts to inform and shape our priorities. |
| CHANGE LEADER. We challenge ourselves and others to innovate and experiment. We are comfortable with ambiguity and adapt quickly when priorities change, remaining focused on the big picture. |
| CARING COLLABORATOR. We create meaningful partnerships and a sense of belonging, setting foundations of trust, respect, inclusion, and empathy in how we work. |
We continually invest in employee career growth and a wide range of development opportunities, including compliance training, mentoring, coaching, and hybrid learning formats.
12
Table of Contents
Compensation and Benefits
The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we provide our eligible employees with competitive wages and access to flexible and convenient healthcare programs intended to meet their needs and the needs of their families, including for all eligible U.S. employees: medical, dental, and vision coverage; health savings accounts with company contributions and flexible spending accounts; paid time off; flexible hybrid work schedules or remote work on a case-by-case basis; employee assistance programs; short-term and long-term disability insurance; term life insurance; and fertility health and family-forming benefits; as well as company-paid access to certain wellness and family care resources. Additionally, we offer a 401(k) plan that includes a company matching program.
Employee Engagement
We take employee feedback seriously and we regularly conduct employee engagement surveys to help our management team gain insight into and gauge employees’ feelings, attitudes, and behaviors around working at CarGurus. Our culture and commitment to building a workplace where we can all thrive has been recognized externally – we have received numerous awards acknowledging our efforts in creating a desirable workplace.
Intellectual Property
We protect our intellectual property through a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, domain names, trade secret protections, confidentiality procedures, and contractual restrictions.
CarGurus has one issued U.S. patent with an expiration date of May 2034. From time to time, we file U.S. provisional and non-provisional patent applications that may cover proprietary technology relating to various functionalities on our platform to the extent we believe they would be beneficial to our competitive position.
We have a number of registered and unregistered trademarks in the U.S. and certain other jurisdictions. We pursue additional trademark registrations to the extent we believe doing so would be beneficial to our competitive position. Our registered trademarks remain enforceable in the countries in which they are registered for as long as we continue to use the marks and pay the fees to maintain the registrations in those countries.
We are the registered holder of several domestic and international domain names that include “CarGurus”, “PistonHeads”, and “Autolist” and other variations of our trade names.
We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with our employees and relevant consultants, contractors, and business partners. We control the use of our proprietary technology and intellectual property through provisions in contracts with our dealer customers and partners and our general and product-specific terms of use on our websites.
Regulatory
Various aspects of our business are, may become, or may be viewed by regulators from time to time as subject, directly or indirectly, to U.S. federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations. In particular, the advertising and sale of new or used motor vehicles is highly regulated by the states and jurisdictions in which we do business. Regulatory authorities or third parties could take the position that some of the laws or regulations applicable to dealers or to the manner in which motor vehicles are advertised and sold generally are directly applicable to our business. These advertising laws and regulations, which often originated decades before the emergence of the internet, are frequently subject to multiple interpretations, are not uniform across jurisdictions, sometimes impose inconsistent requirements with respect to new or used motor vehicles, and the manner in which they should be applied to our business model is not always clear. Regulators or other third parties could take, and on some occasions have taken, the position that our marketplace or related products violate applicable brokering, bird-dog, consumer protection, or advertising laws or regulations.
In order to operate in this regulated environment, we develop our products and services with a view toward appropriately managing the risk that our regulatory compliance, or the regulatory compliance of the dealers whose inventory is listed on
13
Table of Contents
our websites, could be challenged.
We consider applicable advertising and consumer protection laws and regulations in designing our products and services. We endeavor to design our website content in a manner that would comply with relevant advertising regulations and consumer protection laws if the content were to be considered vehicle sales advertising.
Our websites and mobile applications enable us, dealers, and users to send and receive text messages and other mobile phone communications, which requires us to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, in the U.S. The TCPA, as interpreted and implemented by the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, and federal and state courts, imposes significant restrictions on utilization of telephone calls and text messages to residential and mobile telephone numbers as a means of communication, particularly when the prior express consent of the person being contacted has not been obtained. In addition, we are subject to numerous federal, national, state, and local laws and regulations in the U.S. and around the world regarding privacy and the collection, processing, storage, sharing, disclosure, use, cross-border transfer, and protection of personal information and other data. While the scope of these laws and regulations is changing and remains subject to differing interpretations, we seek to comply with industry standards and all applicable laws, policies, legal obligations, and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and privacy-related obligations to third parties.
14
Table of Contents
Information about Our Executive Officers (as of February 19, 2026)
| Jason Trevisan, Chief Executive Officer and Director (Age 51)Business Experience•Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board, CarGurus (since January 2021); interim Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, and Treasurer (since March 2025 and October 2022 to December 2023)•Chief Financial Officer, CarGurus (September 2015 to January 2021); Treasurer, CarGurus (September 2015 to January 2021); President, International, CarGurus (January 2020 to January 2021)•General Partner, Polaris Partners, a venture capital firm (September 2003 to August 2015); while at Polaris, Mr. Trevisan led investments in and served as a director of numerous consumer internet and software companies including LegalZoom, PartsSource, Shoedazzle, and The Roberts Group•Management roles in analytics and client services, aQuantive, a digital marketing service and technology company that was acquired by Microsoft Corporation in 2007 (September 1999 to June 2001)•Consultant, Bain & Company, a management consulting company (July 1996 to August 1999)Education•Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College•Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University | |
|---|---|
| Langley Steinert, Executive Chair and Chair of the Board of Directors (Age 62)Business Experience•Founder and member of the Board, CarGurus (since March 2006); Executive Chair, CarGurus (since January 2021); Chair, CarGurus (since September 2017)•Chief Executive Officer, CarGurus (March 2006 to January 2021); President, CarGurus (June 2015 to February 2019)•Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, ApartmentAdvisor, Inc., an apartment rental marketplace (since October 2020)•Co-founder and Chairman of TripAdvisor (February 2000 through February 2006)Other Private Institution Boards•Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth CollegeEducation•Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College•Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University |
15
Table of Contents
| Ismail Elshareef, Chief Product Officer (Age 50)Business Experience•Chief Product Officer, CarGurus (since February 2024)•Chief Product Officer, OneFootball, a platform-based football media company (January 2022 to January 2024)•Chief Product Officer, UpKeep, Inc., an asset operations management platform company (August 2019 to December 2021)•Senior Vice President, Consumer Products, Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC, a ticket sales and distribution company (September 2016 to July 2019); Vice President, Open Platform and Innovation, Ticketmaster (July 2015 to September 2016)•Executive Director, Open Platform, Edmunds.com Inc., an online resource for automotive inventory and information (May 2011 to July 2015); Principal Architect, Edmunds.com (May 2010 to May 2011); Director, Engineering, Edmunds.com (December 2007 to May 2010)Education•Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals•Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles•Executive Management Program at Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University | |
|---|---|
| Jennifer Hanson, Chief People Officer (Age 55)Business Experience•Chief People Officer, CarGurus (since September 2024)•Senior Corporate Advisor, Accolade, Inc., a healthcare company (May 2024 to July 2024); Chief Human Resources Officer, Accolade (May 2022 to April 2024)•Senior Vice President, Head of Fidelity Medicare Services, Fidelity Investments, a financial services corporation (February 2019 to April 2022); Senior Vice President, Managing Director at Fidelity Labs, Fidelity (July 2018 to February 2019); Senior Vice President, Head of Associate Experience and Benefits, Fidelity (June 2012 to June 2018); Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Fidelity (October 2006 to June 2012)•Associate General Counsel, Tufts Health Plan, an insurance agency (October 2003 to October 2006); Assistant General Counsel, Tufts Health Plan (April 1999 to October 2003)•Counsel, Unicare, a health insurance company (March 1997 to April 1999); Contracts Manager, Unicare (December 1995 to March 1997)Education•Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law•Bachelor of the Arts degree from University of Maine |
16
Table of Contents
| Matthew Quinn, Chief Technology Officer (Age 54)Business Experience•Chief Technology Officer, CarGurus (since January 2022)•Vice President of Engineering, Alignable, Inc., a small business referral network (January 2020 to December 2021)•Vice President of Software Development, Audible, Inc., an Amazon company providing online audiobook and podcast services (May 2018 to December 2019); Senior Director Software Development, Audible (June 2016 to May 2018); Director Software Development, Audible (June 2015 to June 2016)•Software Development Manager, Amazon, an e-commerce and cloud computing company (July 2014 to June 2015)•Director, Global Digital, Vistaprint, a Cimpress plc company providing online marketing and printing services to small businesses (July 2013 to July 2014); Associate Director, Global Digital, Vistaprint (January 2012 to July 2013); Program Manager, Global Digital, Vistaprint (July 2009 to January 2012); Senior Product Manager, Vistaprint (May 2007 to November 2009)Education•Master of Science degree in Management from Emmanuel College•Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the College of the Holy Cross | |
|---|---|
| Dafna Sarnoff, Chief Marketing Officer (Age 62) Business Experience•Chief Marketing Officer, CarGurus (since December 2021)•Chief Marketing Officer, Aura Sub, LLC, a digital security innovator (September 2020 to November 2021)•Chief Marketing Officer, Intersection Parent, Inc., an experience-driven media and technology company (August 2016 to September 2020)•Senior Vice President, Yodle, Inc., a digital marketing software-as-a-service business that was acquired by Web.Com Group, Inc. in 2016 (November 2012 to August 2016)•Various leadership roles over ten years at American Express Company, a bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment cards, in both consumer and B2B marketing, after starting her career at Bain & Company, Inc.Education•Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School•Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Dartmouth College | |
| Samuel Zales, Chief Operating Officer and President (Age 62) Business Experience•Chief Operating Officer, CarGurus (since September 2017), President, CarGurus (since February 2019)•Chief Revenue Officer, CarGurus (December 2015 to September 2017); President of Dealer Operations and International, CarGurus (November 2014 to December 2015)•Executive Vice President, Zeta Interactive, a marketing software company that acquired ClickSquared, Inc., a marketing software company, in January 2014 (January 2014 to October 2014)•Chief Executive Officer, ClickSquared (March 2013 to January 2014)•Consultant to multiple technology and software companies and served on the boards of four venture-backed companies•President, Zoom Information, Inc., a software-as-a-service company (October 2008 to November 2011) |
17
Table of Contents
| •Chief Executive Officer, BuyerZone.com LLC, an online marketplace for business purchasing and a division of Reed Business Information, a business unit of Reed Elsevier PLC, which acquired BuyerZone.com in January 2007 (January 2007 to October 2008)•President and Chief Executive Officer, BuyerZone.com, which he led to its acquisition by Reed Business Information (November 1999 to January 2007)Education•Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University•Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College | |
|---|---|
| Javier Zamora, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (Age 55)Business Experience•General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, CarGurus (since August 2022)•Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Converse, Inc., a footwear and apparel company (February 2021 to July 2022)•Assistant General Counsel at Nike, Inc., a global footwear and apparel company (March 2008 to January 2021)•Practiced corporate and securities law at Hinshaw & Culberston LLP, a national law firm based in Chicago•Officer in the military who served a tour of duty in IraqEducation•Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University•Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles |
Additional Information
The following filings are available on our investor relations website after we file them with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC: Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements for our annual meetings of stockholders, and any amendments to those reports or statements. These filings are also available for download free of charge on our investor relations website. Our investor relations website is located at investors.cargurus.com.
We webcast our earnings calls and certain events that we participate in or host with members of the investment community on our investor relations website. Additionally, we provide news and announcements regarding our financial performance, including SEC filings, investor events, and press and earnings releases, on our investor relations website. Corporate governance information, including our policies concerning business conduct and ethics, is also available on our investor relations website under the heading “Governance.” No content from any of our websites is incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any reference to our websites is intended to be an inactive textual reference only.